Tesla shares fell as much as 6% Tuesday after Bloomberg News reported the company was under investigation by the US Department of Justice over CEO Elon Musk's public statements, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Tesla has denied the report was a formal subpeona, saying it was a voluntary request, and shares now down less than 3%.

The criminal probe comes one month after federal prosecutors also opened a fraud investigation relating to the Musk's claims that funding had been secured to take Tesla private at $420 per share. Musk later explained in a blog post that the tweet came after a meeting with Saudi Arabian investors who left him feeling that "no other decision makers were needed and that they were eager to proceed."

The new criminal inquiry is in the early stages, Bloomberg said, adding that enforcement actions can take months to materialize. The US attorney's office in the Northern District of California did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to Business Insider following the initial report, a Tesla representative said it had received a voluntary request for information from the Justice Department, and not a subpoena.

"Last month, following Elon's announcement that he was considering taking the company private, Tesla received a voluntary request for documents from the DOJ and has been cooperative in responding to it," the spokesperson said.

"We have not received a subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process. We respect the DOJ's desire to get information about this and believe that the matter should be quickly resolved as they review the information they have received."

Tesla's stock price initially flew as high as $389 per share following the go-private announcement by Musk in August, but has since sank as low as $244 as a slew of investor lawsuits and regulator investigations piled up.

Though Musk said in a post on Tesla's website that he believed there was "more than enough funding" to complete a go-private deal, he said going private could create distractions for the company and problems for its current investors. He said some of those investors had told him they would prefer Tesla remain public.

You can read everything that has happened since Elon Musk sent his 'funding secured' tweet about taking Tesla private here.